Fasiri Fasara Fasaha

English Translation by Ret’sepile Makamane [Swahili Translation in-progress]

A Sesotho tale starts like this, the storyteller says; “They say it once was that…,”

And the audience says; “Qooi” in agreement for the narration to continue:

“A young man was courting a young woman in a different village. He proceeded to take her as his wife. Some days she cooked large amounts of bread, the mother in-law would wait until everyone was asleep, and take all the bread and feed it to ‘her people’. The family would wake up to empty pots.

One night the mother in-law took the new bride on a journey, they walked for very long in the dark of night, the daughter in-law frightened and thinking, ‘Where are we going, what is going to happen to me poor child of my parents who are far far away’.

They eventually reached a gorge where there were many young women and girls, gathered, from the village and some other people from the village, there were also many many people from the afterlife and many animals. The mother in-law told the entire crowd to sit down, and said to the daughter in-law, ‘Watch now what I do.’ She took two sticks, one black and one brown; with the black stick she swayed it across the attendants and they all fell down and died. And she turned to the daughter in-law and said, ‘You see what that stick does?’ The daughter in-law said, ‘Yes.’

Now the mother in-law lifted the brown stick and swayed it across the dead, and they arose. And she said to the daughter in-law, ‘Now you take these sticks and repeat what I did. These sticks are now passed onto you as my daughter in-law. You now hold the power.’ The daughter in-law lifted the black stick and swayed it around the attendees, and they all fell down and died.

The daughter in-law then took the sticks and ran back to the village, leaving the attendees dead in the gorge.

In the morning, she went to the chief’s house and said, ‘Watch how all your villagers wake up in the morning, in every homestead a man will wake up unaccompanied by a wife, and a wife will wake up unaccompanied by a husband.’

The chief watched the homesteads and everyone woke up without someone.

The daughter in-law took the chief to the gorge, they found the dead there. She then lifted the brown stick and swayed it around the dead, they rose. The people from the afterlife soon disappeared.

The daughter in-law left the in-laws’ village and returned to her original village. She said to her parents; ‘You married me into a witching household, thanks to you I am now an accomplished witch.’ And settled down in her home.

The mother in-law was mightily vexed by this betrayal. One evening she walked to the gorge. When she arrived she ordered all the young women and girls to chose the lushest trees and get strong sticks for lashing. And to wait.

She called out Obe from the caverns of the caves, Obe came out, the biggest creature the eye had ever seen, with enormous ears and one big eye, Obe looked like a cross between a giant pig or hippopotamus and a cow.

The mother in-law then said, ‘Obe, go bring her.’

Obe travelled through the night, singing,

‘Obe! Obe! Obe!

What will you say you’ve seen, Obe, Obe,

Child of humans, Obe!

Ears standing, Obe!’

The daughter in-law heard Obe, she tried to wake her mother up but the mother was snoring, she shook her father, he was also snoring, she went to the neighbours and shook them but they were fast asleep. She returned home and snuggled up with her mother.

Obe arrived still singing, and put her into his ear and travelled back to the in-laws’ village. When they reached the gorge, the other young women and girls whipped the daughter in-law. The mother in-law ordered them to keep lashing her. When all the sticks were broken and finished, the mother in-law ordered Obe to take her back to her village.

When her parents woke up they found her crying and bruised badly, they cried, ‘Daughter of ours, what is ailing you?’

‘I tried waking all of you up but you were snoring, Obe came to fetch me and took me to my mother in-law, this is her doing!’

The father consulted a traditional healer, the traditional healer worked the homestead with medicines and herbs and said, ‘Nothing will happen tonight.’ And left.

As night became darker, the family fell asleep, from a distance the daughter heard once again:

‘Obe! Obe! Obe!

What will you say you’ve seen, Obe, Obe,

Child of humans, Obe!

Ears standing, Obe!’

She pummelled her mother and father with fists trying to wake them up, she bit into them with teeth in desperation, but they snored away in the land of sleep.

Obe arrived, put her into his ear and travelled back to the mother in-law’s gorge. When she arrived, the mother in-law ordered the other young women and girls to fetch new sticks from the green trees. They whipped her repeatedly, just when she was about to faint the mother in-law ordered Obe to carry her back to her own village.

In the morning, her eyes couldn’t open from the swelling, her body was badly wounded. The parents wept. The father fetched another traditional healer. The traditional healer slaughtered

a sheep and worked the homestead with medicine and herbs and assembled men to keep awake and to keep guard around the homestead.

Night fell. Slowly slowly the men began to dose off. From a distance the young woman heard:

‘Obe! Obe! Obe!

What will you say you’ve seen, Obe, Obe,

Child of humans, Obe!

Ears standing, Obe!’

She looked at the fallen-asleep around her, and just wept. Obe arrived and put her into his ear and travelled back to the mother in-law’s lashing women and girls in the gorge. When Obe arrived and put her down they lashed her until she couldn’t stand. The mother in-law ordered Obe to take her back to her own village.

In the morning the father searched for the most powerful traditional healer. The traditional healer said, ‘We need to slaughter a black ram, Obe is the most enormous, fierce creature on the land.’ He took his medicine charms worked all the men and worked the homestead, and assembled men at the beginning of the village entrance, in the middle and on the sides of the path and some around the house and some around the sleeping mat of the daughter of the house.

In the middle of the night the young woman heard the song:

‘Obe! Obe! Obe!

What will you say you’ve seen, Obe, Obe,

Child of humans, Obe!

Ears standing, Obe!

She asked the elders, ‘Can you hear Obe?’

They said, ‘Yes daughter.’

Obe kept coming closer and closer singing, ‘Obe! Obe! Obe!’

Obe passed the men at the village entrance without a care. They followed in silence. Obe passed the men on the sides of the village path, still singing and not bothered. When Obe entered the homestead, the men closed in on him from all sides with their spears. They stabbed Obe, Obe fought them fiercely. The traditional healer asked them to grab Obe with all their might, throw him upwards and stab him mid-air as the ground is Obe’s power and strength, they put all their strength together and hurled Obe upwards and stabbed and riddled him with spears mid-air. And finished his strength and killed him.

In the morning the mother in-law came to the village to beg for Obe’s hide and remains…

This is the completing of this tale…”